Bär & Karrer Ltd.‘s Lugano office services its Italian and Ticino clients, and its key practice areas include transactions, tax and private clients, and dispute resolution. The practice is headed by Paolo Bottini, who has extensive experience in coordinating legal and tax advice, particularly within M&A projects and advising multinational corporations on establishing headquarters both inside and outside Switzerland. Other individuals to note include Massimo Vanotti, who is skilled in M&A transactions within the banking industry, and Cesare Jermini, who specialises in arbitration and court litigation.
Leading firms: Italian-speaking Switzerland in Switzerland
Bär & Karrer Ltd.
Practice head(s):
Paolo Bottini
Other key lawyers:
Massimo Vaontti; Cesare Jermini; Matthias Bizzarro
Key clients
Guess Europe Sagl (Switzerland)
xFarm SA
Humabs BioMed SA
Work highlights
- Advised xFarm Technologies in connection with its financing round of EUR 17mil. The round was led by Zurich-based Swisscom Ventures, with the participation of Neva SGR (Intesa Sanpaolo Group), Emerald Technology Ventures, NovaCapital and Grey Silo Ventures.
- Advised Guess Europe Sagl on its EUR 250 mil sustainability-linked revolving credit facility.
Kellerhals Carrard
Ivan Paparelli heads Kellerhals Carrard’s Lugano office, as well as the dispute resolution team. The practice is active in several areas, including public law, tax, arbitration, and M&A, among others. Other notable names include Giovanni Stucchi, who has extensive experience within tax and commercial law, and Massimiliano Maestretti, who has a particular focus on sports law and M&A. Lars Schlichting, Andrea Fioravanti, Stefano Perucchi, and Jonathan Bernasconi are other key contacts.
Practice head(s):
Ivan Paparelli
Other key lawyers:
Giovanni Stucchi; Massimiliano Maestretti; Lars Schlichting; Andrea Fioravanti; Stefano Perucchi; Jonathan Bernasconi; Lorenza Ferro
Key clients
AiliA
Alej Holding AG
Bürgschaftsgenossenschaft Ost-Süd, Bürgschaftsgenossenschaft Mitte, Cautionnement Romand, Bürgschaftsgenossenschaft SAFFA
Ehpelia Group SA|Ephelia Capital Sagl
Euroleague Basketball
Fondo Edifici di Culto
GSA Gestion Sportive Automobiles, Geneva
Kemaba Group, Luxembourg
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
Municipality of Lugano
Parmalat Group
Qui CH AG|Quid Global Ltd
TAS Group SpA
Undo Studio SA
Zegna Group
Walder Wyss Ltd.
Walder Wyss Ltd. is described as a ‘first choice’ for matters in Switzerland with Italian clients. The Lugano office is led by Davide Jermini, who is a key contact for all real estate-related matters in the Italian-speaking region, and Stefano Codoni, who clients describe as ‘experienced and highly responsive’. Stefano Fornara is also noted as an ‘exceptionally accomplished’ attorney who frequently represents clients in international arbitrations, commercial, and employment law litigation proceedings.
Practice head(s):
Davide Jermini; Stefano Codoni
Other key lawyers:
Stefano Fornara; Marco Galli
Testimonials
‘Walder Wyss is a highly professional law firm with specialists in all relevant areas of law. The cooperation with the firm is professional and pleasant at all times. The firm has the technical capabilities expected in today’s market and billing is smooth.’
‘Mr. Jermini and Mr. Fornara are both exceptionally accomplished attorneys and very dedicated to assisting us as clients in all matters, even if they may arise at very short notice. Both legal representatives are very well versed in their respective areas of expertise. Great care is taken to avoid unnecessary costs where possible. We are very happy to have these two attorneys as contact persons and to be able to count on their support in Italian-speaking Switzerland.’
‘Stefano Codoni has been working with us on a series of trademark matters. He is a Italian native speaker, perfectly fluent in German and English. We highly appreciate working with Stefano because he is fully dedicated to serve clients in the best way, he is intellectually honest and respects deadline and budgets. He is accountable and works for the client’s best.’
‘The Walder Wyss team is our first choice when it comes to matters in Switzerland with Italian clients. For us it is very important that our local cooperation partners are highly experienced and do not only know the local laws and the local practice and case law, but also that the chemistry between us, our local cooperation partner and our clients work out. The Walder Wyss lawyers are extremely collaborative, unflappable and a pleasure to work with.’
‘Stefano Codoni is always available and is able to coordinate the work of teams in various jurisdictions, being a very efficient interface between the clients and the lawyers in different legal system. The quality of input and advice both technical and strategical is impeccable.’
‘Stefano Codoni is the most considered, smart, attentive, experienced, and highly responsive M&A lawyer I have dealt with.’
‘On the basis of our long-term working relationship, we believe that the distinctive feature of the Walder Wyss SA law firm is the rapidity of the response, with the framing of the client’s needs in a clear way and with the proposal of possible strategies according to the risk / benefit. The comparison with other companies is essentially made on the basis of the experience and specialization of the partners, in relation to the customer’s field of activity.’
‘The difference is made by the product characterized by quality, sustainability and added value for the customer, per unit of dedicated time. We found these peculiarities in abundance in the lawyer Stefano Codoni with whom we had the opportunity to work on several occasions.’
Key clients
Actial Farmaceutica Srl
Jetpharma SA
Artisa Group
Akara Funds AG
Lifeware SA
Atnahs Pharma UK Ltd
Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale
RSI – Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana
Work highlights
- Entrusted with a large internal investigation at RSI – Radiotelevisione Svizzera di lingua italiana (part of SRG SSR, Swiss Public Radio- and Television Network), regarding alleged workplace harassment of various kinds.
- Assisted Artisa Group on a recurring basis with various real estate transactions all over Switzerland, both on the seller side and on the buyer side.